Sunday, January 20, 2013
State Lab chemist Sonja Farak is accused of tampering with state drug evidence at the Massachusetts Crime Lab in Amherst. Farak previously worked at the Jamaica Plain lab until 2004.
A second state crime lab chemist has been arrested and charged with allegedly tampering with drug evidence and possessing drugs, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today. Sonja Farak, 35, of Northhamption, worked at the Massachusetts State Crime Laboratory in Amherst, and was arrested on Saturday at her home by Massachusettts State Police, according to a press release. According to investigators, in one instance Farak allegedly removed a substance from a case that had previously tested positive for cocaine, and replaced it with a counterfeit substance that no longer tested positive. Farak was charged with two counts of tampering with evidence, one count of possession of a class A substance, and one count of possession of a Class B…
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Dorchester resident who was originally sentenced to a three-year prison term was back in court this week.
An alleged drug dealer awarded an early release from his prison sentence because of the ongoing state drug lab crisis was in court again this week facing a new slew of drug-related charges. Torrie Haynes, 30, of Dorchester was arraigned Tuesday, Nov. 13 in Suffolk Superior Court on charges of distribution of a class B substance as a subsequent offense, two counts of assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, according to a press release from Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. Haynes was convicted in January of drug distribution charges and sentenced to a three-year prison term but was released Oct. 16 because Annie Dookhan, the lab worker accused of mishandling evidence in state drug cases, had processed …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
In a live chat on Patch Thursday, Gov. Deval Patrick said he approves of the extraordinary step of allowing release to defense attorneys of State Police interviews with alleged "rogue chemist" Annie Dookhan.
Gov. Deval Patrick took part in a live chat on Patch Thursday. In it, he spoke about the scandal engulfing the State Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain. That's where so-called "rogue chemist" Annie Dookhan is alleged to have tainted the evidence in as many as 34,000 cases. Thousands of drug dealers behind bars could go free (and some have already been released.) Asked by Patch for a progress report on the mammoth task of dealing with the fallout, here's what the governor typed: The criminal investigation is ongoing. Yesterday, in a very unusual move, prosecutors gave defense attorneys all the notes of State Police interviews of witnesses to date, including the notes of the interview of Annie Dookhan, the chemist at the center of this. Given the …
42.3003
-71.117109
305 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA
State labs
/articles/patch-chat-governor-pledges-to-do-right-by-each-of-those-folks-who-had-evidence-against-them-tainted-by-rogue-chemist
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
According to a State Police report obtained by the Globe, the chemist at the center of a scandal that may overturn thousands of drug convictions admitted to tainting evidence.
The chemist suspected of doctoring drug evidence — and putting thousands of convictions in jeopardy — allegedly told investigators she "messed up bad." In the State Police report, obtained by the Globe, lab chemist Annie Dookhan is said to admit to taking out samples when she shouldn't have, forging other chemists' signatures and not doing tests properly. The revelation of the police report came Wednesday in a fast-moving scandal. It emerged Tuesday that Annie Dookhan, whose actions may have tainted 34,000 drug cases, appears to have lied in court by claiming a master's degree in chemistry. Convicted criminals have begun to be freed in cases where Dookhan's evidence was used. So far, the state has identified 1,141 inmates whose convictions…
42.3003
-71.117109
305 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA
State labs
/articles/chemist-in-jp-drug-lab-scandal-told-investigators-i-messed-up-bad
/locations/7918807
The chemist whom the state blames for tainting evidence in thousands of drug cases appears to have lied on the witness stand about having a master's degree in chemistry.
Officials have added perjury to claims against a "rogue chemist" at the shuttered state drug lab in Jamaica Plain. It emerged Tuesday that Annie Dookhan, whose actions may have tainted 34,000 drug cases, appears to have lied in court by claiming a master's degree in chemistry. Dookhan, formerly known as Annie Khan, earned an undergraduate bachelor of science degree in biochemistry from UMass Boston in 2001. But, in contradiction of her testimony in a 2010 drug case, she doesn't have a master's. "We have no record of her doing subsequent graduate work at our campus," a UMass official told the Associated Press. 'No one has heard her side' Meanwhile, as convicted criminals have begun to be freed in cases where Dookhan's evidence was used, …
42.3003
-71.117109
305 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA
State labs
/articles/chemist-annie-dookhan-at-heart-of-state-drug-lab-scandal-alleged-to-have-lied-under-oath-about-her-education
/locations/7915269
Thursday, September 20, 2012
On Thursday Gov. Deval Patrick picked veteran prosecutor David Meier to lead a "boiler room" that would sift through cases to find out which ones are tainted by the scandal at the state drug lab on South Street.
The governor has handed a high-profile attorney who for a dozen years was chief prosecutor for homicides in Boston the mammoth task of handling the fallout from the scandal at the state drug lab in Jamaica Plain. Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday announced his appointment of David Meier to lead a "boiler room" clearinghouse dedicated to finding everyone whose criminal case might have been tainted by what the state is calling a rogue chemist. Former Department of Public Health State Lab chemist Annie Dookhan allegedly doctored or otherwise tainted up to 60,000 drug samples in 34,000 cases. She resigned in March before the scandal became public. The governor shuttered the South Street labs in August. Since then, things have moved fast. On …
42.3003
-71.117109
305 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA
State labs
/articles/former-boston-prosecutor-david-meier-tasked-with-cleaning-up-jamaica-plain-drug-lab-scandal
/locations/7877433
Monday, September 17, 2012
Public Health Department Commissioner John Auerbach, a JP resident, resigned Monday, saying "the buck stops with me" in the scandal that has shuttered the state drug lab on South Street — and put thousands of convictions at risk.
The scandal at the state's drug lab in Jamaica Plain claimed its highest-level victim to date with the resignation of the commission of public health. John Auerbach, who according to the JP Gazette lives here in the neighborhood, stepped down Monday. In a statement, he accepted responsibility. "It is clear that there was insufficient quality monitoring, reporting and investigating on the part of supervisors and managers surrounding the former Department of Public Health drug lab in Jamaica Plain – and ultimately, as Commissioner, the buck stops with me." As many as 34,000 criminal cases could be undermined by the alleged actions of chemist Annie Dookhan. She is alleged to have tampered with evidence in a variety of ways, including so as to…
42.3003
-71.117109
305 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA
State labs
/articles/head-of-state-s-department-of-public-health-jp-s-john-auerbach-resigns-over-jp-drug-lab-scandal
/locations/7858252
BTB
12:43 am on Saturday, October 13, 2012
Better yet, put her on the prison yard with everyone (male & female) she falsified evidence on and let JUSTICE be served. more ›